Yellowstone Human Trafficking Task Force

06/02/2026

Please save the date for YHTTF’s 2026 2nd Quarter General Session on Tuesday, June 30th from 10:30 a.m. to Noon in the Community Room at the Billings Public Library.

We are honored to welcome Jenna McKaye as our special guest speaker. Jenna is an award-winning author, survivor leader, and nationally recognized advocate whose work has helped shape anti-trafficking training, survivor advocacy, and legislation across the country. Through her extraordinary story of survival, resilience, and leadership, Jenna delivers a powerful message of hope, healing, and action that has impacted audiences from frontline professionals to the United Nations.

Following the General Session, Jenna will be reading from her award-winning memoir, Grit and Grace: An Unforgettable Memoir of the Human Spirit, and signing copies at a special event hosted by The Worthy Ranch at Quill - House of Ink. All are welcome.

The agenda for this jam-packed General Session will be shared closer to the event date. We hope you will join us for what promises to be an impactful and inspiring gathering.

05/30/2026

Nearly 9 years ago, Maria Martin with the Montana Department of Corrections reached out to me about the connection between trafficking, exploitation, trauma, addiction, and incarceration. Maria has since retired but her work continued at MT DOC and through the partnership with the Yellowstone Human trafficking Task Force (YHTTF).

Today, that work is taking steps to better identify trafficking victims within the correctional system.

In June, I will be presenting at the Montana State Women’s Prison and Riverside on identifying human trafficking and the Trafficking Survivors Relief Act. These conversations matter because many incarcerated individuals were victims long before they were ever offenders.

You cannot help victims you fail to identify.

The question is not whether trafficking victims exist within our correctional system. The question is how many we failed to identify before they arrived there.

Thank you to the MT DOC, staff, survivors, and advocates working to build systems that recognize exploitation, trauma, and pathways to recovery instead of only punishment.

I love you all.

Penny Ronning
Co-Founder and President
YHTTF

BILLINGS, Mont. — Montana’s only women’s prison is holding 246 inmates out of a capacity of 250, and now a new survey effort is trying to identify women who have

05/30/2026

Spot on.

05/28/2026

The term “john” exists for one reason: to make rapists sound less violent. The buyer’s money does not erase the violence.

It funds it.

05/20/2026

From the post: The Montana Department of Justice recently partnered with Safe House Project to relaunch Montana's existing human trafficking hotline through a new platform called Simply Report.

The new platform will make it easier for the public to report suspected human trafficking and helps improve law enforcement response times. Reports submitted through the hotline are sent directly to the Montana Department of Justice's Human Trafficking Unit.

If you believe you have witnessed human trafficking, call or text 1-833-406-STOP (7867), visit simplyreport.com, or download the Simply Report mobile application available in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

The Montana Department of Justice recently partnered with Safe House Project to relaunch Montana's existing human trafficking hotline through a new platform called Simply Report.

The new platform will make it easier for the public to report suspected human trafficking and helps improve law enforcement response times. Reports submitted through the hotline are sent directly to the Montana Department of Justice's Human Trafficking Unit.

If you believe you have witnessed human trafficking, call or text 1-833-406-STOP, visit simplyreport.com, or download the Simply Report mobile application available in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

05/19/2026

One year ago today, Penny Ronning, YHTTF Co-Founder and President, was at the White House for the signing of the TAKE IT DOWN Act into federal law. Today, the law is fully in effect nationwide.

This law matters because victims of exploitation, abuse, trafficking, sextortion, and AI generated sexual deepfakes have too often been left to fight alone while intimate images spread online for days, months, or even years.

The TAKE IT DOWN Act makes it a federal crime to knowingly publish or threaten to publish nonconsensual intimate images, including AI generated or digitally altered sexual images. It also requires online platforms to remove reported content within 48 hours.

If you or someone you know becomes a victim, here are critical steps to take immediately:

• DO NOT delete messages, screenshots, usernames, profiles, links, payment demands, or threats
• Take screenshots of everything, including dates, usernames, URLs, and conversations
• Report the content directly on the platform and specifically reference the TAKE IT DOWN Act and nonconsensual intimate imagery
• File reports with law enforcement and ask for a case number
• Report to the FBI at ic3.gov if there are threats, extortion, trafficking, organized exploitation, or interstate activity
• If a minor is involved, report immediately to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at CyberTipline.org or 1-800-THE-LOST and, if in Montana, submit a tip to the Montana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force by calling (406) 438-2354 or emailing [email protected]
• Preserve evidence even if the content is later removed

Victims need to know this clearly: being victimized online is not your shame to carry. The shame belongs to those exploiting, distributing, profiting from, or weaponizing another human being’s image and trauma.

This law exists because survivors spoke up and advocates refused to stay silent. The fight against exploitation is far from over but today marks an important step toward protecting victims in the digital age.

05/17/2026

My heart is overflowing with gratitude. This week, I had the honor of speaking at the Montana DPHHS 2026 Syndemic Symposium in Helena and today at the Alchoholics Anonymous Safety Event in Billings. Both experiences renewed my hope and reminded me that there are extraordinary people across Montana quietly doing the hard, compassionate work of protecting vulnerable populations too often met with stigma, judgment, and silence.

In Helena, I spent time with public health professionals from across the state serving patients impacted by sexually transmitted infections and HIV. I left in awe of their professionalism, compassion, and humanity. These are the people showing up every day to care for others deserving dignity and healthcare. They are the best of who we are.

Today in Billings, people in recovery gathered to address how to make meetings, recovery spaces, and sober living environments safer from predatory behavior and human trafficking. Across Montana and the nation, we are seeing increasing concerns involving labor trafficking, coercion, exploitation, and manipulation within vulnerable populations, including individuals working hard to rebuild their lives through recovery.

Human trafficking intersects deeply with addiction, homelessness, poverty, violence, trauma, and health disparities. That is why education, collaboration, and courageous conversations are critical. Every room willing to learn becomes part of the solution. Every trained professional, advocate, sponsor, provider, and community member strengthens the network of protection for victims and survivors.

Thank you to Montana DPHHS Public Health and AA for your leadership, your compassion, and your willingness to confront difficult realities in order to better protect people. I left both events inspired by the goodness, dedication, and humanity in these rooms.

Penny Ronning
Co-Founder and President
Yellowstone Human Trafficking Task Force

05/16/2026

Please mark your calendars and save the date!

(YHTTF General Sessions are in person only.)